


In Which Jeremy Heere Has Charmspeak

by transriot



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Demigods, Aphrodite Kid Jeremy Heere, Camp Half-Blood, Demigod Jeremy Heere, M/M, hinted at boyf riends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-03-08
Packaged: 2019-11-13 22:18:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18040127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transriot/pseuds/transriot
Summary: Otherwise known as "five times Jeremy accidentally used charmspeak and the one time it was needed."Ever since Jeremy was young, he had been able to get whatever he wanted. He didn't realize it at first, of course, and he definitely didn't know why.





	In Which Jeremy Heere Has Charmspeak

**Author's Note:**

> i've never done an au like this before so sorry if my tagging is wrong

  1. Kindergarten



 

Jeremy knew that he was different growing up. He didn’t know  _ how  _ he was different, but his dad didn’t speak about his mom. That was the first thing Jeremy noticed that set him apart from the other kids in his grade. He was in kindergarten, but he wasn’t stupid.

And it was pointed out to him anyway.

Damien, an older kid in his class, had looked at Jeremy one day and asked, “Where’s your mommy?”

Jeremy blinked at him. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t have a mommy?” Damien asked. 

Jeremy tilted his head to the side, “I have my papa.” He said it softly; it was something he had never considered before. He looked at the drawing he was working on. It was a masterpiece in his childish opinion: two stick figures holding hands in crayon labeled ‘me’ and ‘dad’ respectively, a house in the background that his teacher had shown him how to draw.

“That’s weird,” Damien said, before sticking his finger up his nose. 

“It’s not weird,” Jeremy protested.

“Uh huh!”

“Nuh uh!” Jeremy shook his head.

Damien frowned at him, turning to the girl that sat next to him. “Jeremy doesn’t have a mommy,” he told her.

“Jeremy doesn’t have a mommy?” The girl's eyes widened. “But who tucks you in at night!?”

“My papa.”

Damien stood up, wobbling a bit as he did. “JEREMY DOESN’T HAVE A MOMMY!”

“Shut up!” Jeremy whined.

The teachers had, of course, noticed the situation and were heading over, “Damien!” their teacher, a lady called Miss Allison began to scold.

“JEREMY DOESN’T HAVE A MOMMY! JEREMY DOESN’T HAVE A MOMMY!” Damien yelled again, and again and again until the whole class began to yell with him.

“Shut up!” Jeremy yelled again, pleading this time, his voice drowned out by the others in the room. Tears pricked in his eyes and he began to cry, sniffling as the tears ran down his face.

Miss Allison looked frazzled, her assistant trying to help her quiet the children down. “That is enough!” she yelled, trying to get Damien especially to settle down. The kids were resistant though and kept yelling.

“You’re weird!” Damien laughed, “You don’t have a mommy!”

Something tipped in Jeremy, a light switch flipping on that he didn’t know existed. “Shut up!” He wanted them all to stop, he just wanted everyone to be quiet.

And they did. The kids stopped chanting and Jeremy sobbed even harder. Miss Allison got the class back in order while her assistant took Jeremy over to the side, calming him down.

“Not everyone has a mommy and that’s okay,” Miss Allison began to scold the other kids. Jeremy just hiccuped into her assistant’s chest.

 

  1. First Grade



 

Jeremy was in first grade the second time it happened. 

He was staring down at the vocabulary test in front of him. So far he had gotten every single word except one. He knew that it began with a P but he didn’t know how the letters went and there were so many s’s in it that he didn’t remember where to put them. Jeremy bit down on the top of pencil gently, trying to think of the word. He and his dad had just gone over it the night before. 

Next, to him, his classmate finished her test and Jeremy felt stupid. He struggled with words. He had been doing  _ so good _ this test but now he couldn’t figure out the word.  On all of the other tests, Jeremy would forget a lot of words, or how to spell things and he still couldn’t tell his d’s from his b’s. Compared to his other classmates, he was stupid.

He was always the last one to finish his tests and this time was no exception. 

Jeremy shakingly began to write the word, trying to stretch his mind for how it was spelled. 

P A S A S

No. That wasn’t correct. Jeremy frowned down at the word. 

He knew though, that he had his notebook in his desk. Whenever his dad and Jeremy studied, his dad gave him hints. A hint wouldn’t be bad, his dad said it was okay to need hints sometimes. 

Jeremy didn’t bother checking for his teacher before he pulled his notebook out from under his desk. He started to flip through it when his name was called, “Jeremy.” He looked over, seeing his teacher standing next to him, his arms crossed over his chest. Jeremy had only seen his teacher get mad a few times, and the look of disappointment and anger on his face made Jeremy’s heart sink. 

“You’re cheating,” his teacher said. Cheating? Jeremy didn’t know what that word meant. 

“I just needed a hint, my dad said it’s okay to need hints,” Jeremy told his teacher.

His teacher sighed, kneeling so that he was closer to Jeremy’s height. “That’s cheating, Jeremy, I’m going to have to take your test now.”

“But I just needed a hint,” Jeremy insisted, looking at his teacher with wide eyes. He was in trouble, he could feel it.

His teacher looked back at him. If he had been older, Jeremy would have noticed the slight glaze that came across his teacher's eyes, how his shoulders dropped the anger and how the tension was erased from his body completely. “Of course, Jeremy. I’m sorry. Use your hint,” the teacher told him before standing up. “You only need that one word and then you’re done with your test.” 

Jeremy’s face split into a wide grin. He looked at his hint. Passenger. Passenger. Jeremy repeated it to himself under his breath, feeling it on his tongue before tucking the book away and writing it down on his test. 

The test was the first test that he had actually gotten higher than 60% on. It was also the first time Jeremy got in trouble for something someone else let him do. 

 

  1. Third Grade



 

Anxiety had begun to bubble inside of him at the tender age of nine years old. It started because of gym class. It was early fall in New Jersey when their gym teacher marched them outside in their uniforms, set down a soccer ball between two teams, and told them they were going to play a game. 

The teacher had split up the teams by counting them off, it just happened that the way she had done it made most of the athletic kids end up on one team. Jeremy shivered as he stared at the kids across from him, it was cold that day and he didn’t understand why they didn’t just play inside like everyone else. 

He was put in a position he didn’t know the name of. There were too many kids so they were doubled up. The boy next to Jeremy looked at him. His name was Jacob. “You’re really pretty,” he said.

Jeremy blinked at him, “Thanks.” While anxiety began to bubble, other things did too. He caught classmates staring at him instead of the board, people would smile at his dad and tell him how “handsome” Jeremy was growing up to be.

Jeremy did not understand what handsome meant. He was nine. He was thinner than his other classmates, he was paler too and he stood in the back as often as he could. 

The gym teacher blew her whistle before Jeremy could think about what his classmate had meant. He was faster than he should have been for a kid who barely went outside. He was quick at avoiding his teammates but whenever the ball was kicked towards him he panicked, kicking it somewhere else completely. It didn’t take very long for his teammates to start getting annoyed with him. 

“Kick it over here!” one of his classmates yelled, bouncing up and down. Jeremy looked at the ball in front of him, closed his eyes, and kicked as hard as he could. He heard a yell and when he opened his eyes, he saw that he had managed to kick hard enough to hit Jacob, who had called him pretty earlier, right in the face. Jeremy’s face paled and he looked around. The other students stared at him with accusatory eyes.

“Way to go, Jeremy,” one of his classmates Riley glared at him before making her way over to Jacob. Jacob, who was holding his face and definitely trying not to cry, was sitting on the ground. Their gym teacher managed to pry his hands away from his face and Jeremy felt sick to his stomach when he saw red blood streaking down, his nose was awkwardly bent.

“Chantrelle, can you take Jacob to the nurse please.” The gym teacher looked at Chantrelle, who had been at the top of their class since they were in the first grade. Jeremy wished he was smart like her (it would take another year until he was diagnosed with dyslexia). Trusted like she was. But he wasn’t, and he doubted he would ever be given the cold stare that his teacher looked at him with. 

“Jeremy Heere, over there. Now.” The teacher pointed away from the other students. “You guys, stay right here.” She wagged their finger at the rest of his class before marching over to where she had pointed. Jeremy followed, dragging his feet on the way there. The class whispered amongst themselves, some kids letting out very quiet “ooooh’s” and he heard a handful of, “Jeremy’s in trouuubbblee.”

He hung his head, putting his pockets in his hands. He hadn’t meant to hurt anyone.

The teacher crossed her arms over her chest as she stared down at him. “This is the sixth time this month that I’ve had an issue with you in my class, Jeremy.” She said, “Last week, you managed to hurt Tyler as well and let’s not count the other times you’ve harmed your classmates. Is this going to become a trend?” she asked, sounding more like an accusation than an actual question. 

Jeremy struggled to meet her gaze. “I didn’t mean to hurt them,” he answered.

“Time and time again you have proven that you can’t be trusted to play during class. Breaking equipment and hurting other students, I’m beginning to think that you should spend the class off to the side. It’s about time we’ve discussed this with the principal and your father both present,” she said.

“Please don’t! I’ll be good, I promise! I won’t hurt anyone, I won’t break any equipment,” he looked at her, feeling desperate. “Let me play with the others.” 

The gym teacher blinked at him. “Okay,” she said.

“Ok… ay?” Jeremy was surprised, not expecting for her to agree with him. 

“A child must play with his peers,” she nodded as she spoke. “I see no issue with letting you play with your classmates.”

Jeremy’s heart calmed down, his hands felt less clammy (but definitely still clammy). “Really?”

“Yes, really, now stop questioning me about it or I’ll change my mind, Jeremy.”

Jeremy nodded once, sharp and fast. 

His gym teacher blew the whistle. “Alright, everybody, listen up!” Her voice commanded the class. Jeremy smiled to himself as she reorganized them for another round of soccer. 

 

  1. Sixth Grade



 

At this point, with his body full of hormones and his head with questions never answered, Jeremy knew that he was different from the other kids around him. It wasn’t just his dyslexia or ADHD. It was the way people looked at him. He was twelve years old, he was in the middle of puberty at probably the worst stage.

But Jeremy, without a fail, managed to get at least one person confessing to him a week. While his (small amount of) friends always had the worst school pictures, Jeremy had to admit that every single picture of him looked weirdly amazing. His dad bought one for every year. It was embarrassing. Jeremy didn’t consider himself attractive. He didn’t think he was cute in any shape or form, his eyes didn’t have consistent color, he was too pale, at his age he was already taller than all the rests and lanky too, sticking out like a sore thumb.

It wasn’t the only thing, though.

By now he had realized that he could make people… do things. It took him a while to realize this and it hadn’t hit him until he got to fifth grade when he had managed to convince a carnival worker to give him a large stuff toy rather than Jeremy winning it himself.

He still knew nothing about his mom. His dad skirted around the topic. Any mention of her had his dad sweating, and he avoided it by changing the topic to something else entirely.

Jeremy was beginning to wonder if he was some sort of mutant, like in his X-Men comics. Maybe his mom was a mutant too and he wasn’t supposed to know. Or his dad found out and that’s why she left, leaving his dad with a kid that ended up inheriting whatever sort of convincing power that made people flock to them. 

His final straw was when he was standing in the front of the school, waiting for his dad to pick him up. A kid that Jeremy didn’t know came up to him. She was shorter than him, her hoodie was overly large and she looked nervous. Jeremy felt nervous, feeling the familiar sink in his stomach and the too fast heart rate. 

“I heard that you could get out of anything you want to,” the girl spoke.

“What?”

“From a friend. She saw you the other day. You managed to convince the biggest jerk in school to give back your school bag,” she said. Jeremy didn’t reply and she took that as an invitation to continue. “Could you help me?” she asked. “I can’t pay you but I need to get my phone back from —”

The familiar sound of his dad’s car pulled Jeremy away. “I have to go!” he said quickly, already walking away from her, although it came out more like, “Ihavetogo!”

He didn’t wait to hear anything else from her before he was slipping into the passenger side of his dad's car. His dad greeted him with a wide grin. “How was school, son?”

“School was…” Jeremy licked his lips, trying to think, “school was good.” 

“You okay? You seemed flustered.” The grin fell away to parental concern, his dad arching an eyebrow at him. Jeremy wrung his hands in his shirt, staring down at his lap.

“I’m fine, just thinking about a test I took today,” Jeremy lied easily.

“How did it go?”

“It went fine,” he answered.

“Just fine?” His dad asked him, “Are you sure you’re okay? You can talk to me about anything, you know.”

 A silence stretched between them for a moment, Jeremy trying to work his nerve up. Finally, he felt brave and ready enough to ask.

“Dad, who was my mom?” he asked, for the hundredth time in his life.

His dad let out a long sigh. “Jeremy,” he began—he always began like that—“I can’t tell you.” He took a left turn at the stoplight, the traffic heavy with all the other middle school parents driving their kids home. 

“Why not?” Jeremy couldn’t help the irritation that shot into his voice. “Was she a bad person? Dad, if she was a bad person please tell me and I’ll stop asking.”

“No… No, she wasn’t a bad person.” His dad shook his head as they managed to break out of traffic. “You’re just not ready to know yet.”

“‘Not ready’?” Jeremy looked at his dad, frowning. “You say that every time! What do you mean that I’m ‘not ready’! I’m going into the seventh grade soon and I’m going to be turning thirteen! You have to tell me at some point.”

Irritation rolled out of his dad in waves. They reached the crossroads only to be stopped by the train. “Dad, who was my mom?” Jeremy asked him again.

“Jeremy I am not having this conversation with you right now.” His father was curt, short. 

Jeremy bit the tip of his tongue gently in anger, trying to suppress himself as he balled his fists up. “You’re going to tell me about my mother,” he demanded, looking at his dad. The words rolled off of his tongue and he could feel the switch turn on inside him. His dad looked at him before looking back, the train beginning to approach the track in front of them.

“Your mother is a Greek goddess. I can’t tell you which one she is, she never told me. She was the most beautiful person I have ever met. She was funny and charming, and she knew how to get what she wanted. It was a fling, a one night stand after I finally got the job at my firm. Nine months later you were at the front of my door in a golden cradle with information about who she was. I don’t remember what she looked like, I think that’s part of her powers, but she was  _ gorgeous _ ,” his father said, wistful. 

“You’re beautiful like her, in a different way. She gave me the most beautiful son in the world and I’ll be eternally grateful to her for that. She said when the time came I was supposed to bring you to a camp in New York, that you would be trained there.”

“Why haven’t you brought me?” Jeremy couldn’t help but ask, he didn’t push it though. Instead, he waited, the train whistled as it passed them. 

His dad must have been underneath the influence of his words still because he looked at Jeremy, solemn and serious. “I didn’t want to lose you. I already lost her, how ruined could I have been to lose the most perfect woman I’ve ever met? Of course, she was a goddess. It couldn’t have been prevented. I’m worried too. She might take you for herself, and I will never see you again.”

Jeremy felt like he couldn’t breathe.

The train finished passing by them. The railroad guards lifted up and his father drove forward. They didn’t speak for the rest of the ride home. 

 

  1. Summer Vacation, Age 12 and His First Year at Camp



 

Jeremy’s father did not get to drop him off all the way at camp. He got as close as he could without endangering himself and then handed Jeremy off to a furry-legged goat man (a satyr, a voice inside him said) who looked like he was just a bit older than Jeremy himself. His name was Jared and he was a bit rude.

His dad gave him a hug before he left. Jeremy held onto him as long as possible. He was definitely not crying when the satyr took him to camp.

He had never gone to a summer camp before but Camp Half-Blood wasn’t like any other camp out there. When they stepped through the threshold he felt something wash over him. “Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, kid,” Jared said, slapping him on the back. 

The next few moments were a blur to Jeremy. He was introduced to the god of the camp, Dionysus. Jeremy stood there, mouth open because he was meeting an actual god. Dionysus didn’t seem happy to see him, handing him off to a man in a wheelchair. He introduced himself as Chiron and gave Jeremy a quick tour before he was handed off to a cabin.

“Welcome to the Hermes Cabin!” The girl in front of him introduced herself as Jenna. “This is where people who are unclaimed go. Some kids of minor gods stay here too if there isn’t a cabin built for them already.”

“Not everyone has their own cabin?” Jeremy thought that was weird, especially since the camp had been there for so long according to Chiron.

“We’re working on it,” Jenna told him. “A lot of the minor gods children didn’t really get sent to camp since they were usually able to go undetected most of their lives. Times have changed though.” Jeremy considered that. 

“I’ll introduce you to our cabin head later,” Jenna said. “When you get claimed, you’ll have to start the process all over again too, so that’s going to be fun!” She sounded a bit sarcastic, wagging her fingers in the air.

“Who’s your godly parent?”

“Hermes.” Jenna seemed proud of this. “If you ever need to know anything about anyone, and seriously, I mean  _ anyone _ just let me know.” Jenna winked at him. 

“When will I be claimed?” he asked, feeling a bit silly for all the questions.

“When your parent decides it’s right. You don’t have your mom, right?” Jeremy nodded. “So that at least narrows you down to goddesses. Unless one the gods decided to take female form and give birth.” 

“Has that happened before?” Jeremy looked at Jenna, feeling a bit flabbergasted.

“You’d be surprised.” Jenna shrugged before going on an even more in-depth tour than Chiron did. This tour included who to avoid in battles, where to go, how everything worked and it also led to her introducing him to her friends, all demigods from different cabins. 

“That’s Michael and Christine. They’re children of Dionysus.” Christine was bright as she waved at Jeremy, Michael a bit more subdued as he waved. Jeremy waved back, giving them both a small smile. Michael looked a lot more like his father than Christine did but they had the same black hair, curly just a bit and the same wide, happy smiles that were welcoming. There was a touch of madness to their eyes as well. Jeremy liked them both right away.

“Over there is Chloe, she’s a daughter of Nemesis. If you want to know who’s a good ally, it’s going to be her,” Jenna pointed at the girl with dark hair, sitting a bit away from Michael and Christine. She looked almost bored, and if her eyes caught the light in the right way they looked red. “She can also be a bitch, so be careful not to piss her off,” Jenna whispered to Jeremy, a bit too loudly.

“I heard you, Jenna,” Chloe spoke like a valley girl almost, rolling her eyes but there wasn’t any real menace in that tone.

“Did you? Sorry about that.” Jenna shrugged, not sounding sorry at all, and Chloe flipped her off.

Jeremy felt weird, a bit uncomfortable in his bright orange shirt but, he felt grounded, at home. He didn’t ask Jenna or any of the other demigods he was introduced to about the weird ability he had. Maybe it was just a weird quirk.   
  


While he was at camp, Jeremy didn’t use his weird power. He hadn’t used it since he had spoken to his dad in the car. He didn’t think he could use it again in good conscience. Every time he had forced someone into doing something that they didn’t want to do. It felt wrong. It felt dirty. Jeremy didn’t like it, didn’t like how it was able to make him twist others and bend them to his will. 

Jenna woke him one morning. “Capture the flag day!” She was grinning all morning. Jeremy followed her until they caught up with Michael and the rest. It had begun to be “Michael and the rest” in his head. Jeremy didn’t know why but he stared at Michael. His eyes sometimes looked amber in the right light, his grin was wide, and although Christine was a fun person to be around she didn’t get him as Michael did. He wondered if this was what it was to have a best friend.

“Capture the flag?” Jeremy had played it once in school, he had ended up sitting out most of the game because he couldn’t take the pressure of it.

“It’s way more fun when there’s a bunch of demigods playing it,” Christine piped up, holding a plate full of gluten-free pancakes, part of which she dumped into the fire. “Hermes and Dionysus are teamed up together this time! We also have Iris and Nemesis, but it’ll be cool to play with you!”

“Does everyone in camp participate?” Jeremy asked.

“More or less. If they’re too hurt or sick then they can’t play. But we get to go in the forests with swords and all that cool stuff and fight against each other. Maybe a monster if we get lucky,” the madness in Christine’s eyes glistened a bit.

Jeremy felt a pit in the stomach.

“Don’t worry.” Michael looked over at him from where he stood next to his sister. “You’re new so you’ll probably just get stuck in the safest and most boring spot possible.”

“Great,” Jeremy said dryly.

“It’ll be fun,” Jenna said, leading Jeremy to the Hermes table. They waved at Brooke as they passed by her and her siblings.

Fun.   
  


Later Jeremy had to remind himself that it was supposed to be fun. That he wasn’t supposed to be in a dangerous situation. He didn’t know how it happened but some Ares kid had found them and then more Ares kids came out. They chased him, chased him and Christine actually because much to her disappointment, the two of them had ended up on guard duty of the flag.

Christine had grabbed the flag and the two of them ran as fast as they could until Christine couldn’t run. She had stumbled and her ankle let out the worst crack that Jeremy had ever heard.

That didn’t stop the Ares kids from approaching Jeremy though. Christine was behind him, seriously hurt but awake and breathing, she was still out of the game so she had given Jeremy the flag. The flag which was tucked into his armor, a feeble attempted to protect it against the crowd of Ares, Nike, and Athena kids around him. Possibly the deadliest combo.

Jeremy was shaking. He was twelve years old. Who decided to give him a sword!? He couldn’t even shave yet!

“Don’t come closer,” he held the sword the best he could.

“Chill, newbie. We won’t hurt you, just give us the flag,” the leader of the group, a steely-eyed Athena guy told him, stretching out his hand.

Jeremy shook his head.

“Jeremy, just give it to them,” Christine whispered to him.

“Christine, you’re not playing anymore,” a Nike kid shushed her and Christine stuck her tongue out.

Jeremy stared at the crowd around him and he pressed his lips together. He couldn’t fight his way out, but he didn’t want to be the newbie that gave up the flag. 

“There’s no shame in losing,” the same Nike kid said and someone in their group snorted.

“No,” Jeremy stated, his voice wobbling a little. The Athena boy shared a look with an Ares girl next to him. 

“No?” The daughter of Ares questioned.

“No,” he said again. And then the switch turned on, “Actually,” he began, his voice going dangerously sweet, “You’re going to help us. You’re going to take Christine to Chiron, and you’re going to help us get the flag.”

He heard Christine mumble something along the lines of “What the fuck?” behind him.

“And you’re going to do it! You’re going to do it now!” Jeremy stepped forward.

The group of teenagers stared at him for a moment. “Okay,” the Ares girl was the first one to submit. She stepped towards Christine, setting down her sword and shield. The others followed suit. The Ares girl swept Christine up in her arms.

“Help me grab your flag,” Jeremy told the rest and they nodded as if it made perfect sense. 

It wasn’t until they were in a bigger area that his mom decided it was time to introduce herself. The people on his team stood back, wary that those of the blue team were suddenly helping them. When the group that Jeremy had led managed to grab the blue team’s flag no one complained though, arguments broke out among the blue team while the red celebrated. He could see Jenna in the crowd, fighting her way through with a question burning in her eyes before everyone stopped and just stared at him.

Jeremy felt fuzzy.

“Idiot! You guys got charmspoken by an Aphrodite kid!” Someone on the blue team yelled, punching the Athena leader in the arm rough.

Aphrodite. The name shook Jeremy to the core. Jeremy looked at his hands, “Why am I glowing.” It wasn’t a question, really, more of a worried statement. His clothes were different too, the armor he was wearing had been replaced and now instead he wore a short, white toga trimmed with pink that ended at his mid thighs, sandals with golden lace, there were bracelets on his wrists and when he brushed his hand up he felt hairpins in his hair that felt like they were in the shape of feathers.

His mother, Aphrodite, apparently had decided to make a fashion statement out of his claiming. 

“Does the win count!?” someone on the blue team yelled. “Charmspeak is cheating.” The voices of teens arguing against each other rose and he wanted to disappear. He hadn’t meant to. Well, he supposed he had. But it had been instinctual. He hadn’t thought about it and it was almost like he was being led by his words as much as the others.

Jeremy wanted to take a shower.

 

          +1. When it Was Needed Most

 

His ears were ringing. Jeremy had a pounding in his head that was worse than the time Christine and Michael had convinced them all to hide in the woods with forbidden wine, staining their lips and teeth purple. 

He sat up slowly, trying to come to the world around him. He glared in the dark, hearing something dripping. They were definitely in some sort of cave. It was too dark and damp to be anything else. Jeremy looked around, spying all seven of his friends near him. Well, not near enough for them to escape together but close enough that he felt comforted. It was only supposed to be seven of them but Christine wasn’t leaving Michael behind, and Jeremy was more than happy to have him as an addition to their merry band.

At the moment, however, Jeremy wished that they had all stayed back at camp. Jake was slumped on a wall, his arms shackled above him and his legs shackled below him. It was an unfitting position for the son of Jupiter. Next to him, Rich seemed to be directly in the wettest, dampest part of the cave. A spot that would make it difficult for the son of Vulcan to even attempt to use his powers.

Jenna was close to Brooke, the daughter of Hermes was awake and so was Brooke, who was glowing faintly. It was less than a flashlight but it helped Jeremy see. Michael and Christine had been stuck together, which figured. Polyphemus probably didn’t think them much of a threat, which Jeremy knew was a stupid move. 

Right now, though, the state of the two of them made a frog jump into Jeremy’s throat. Christine was awake, yes. She was shackled against her brother. Michael was breathing a bit too shallow.

Jeremy struggled against the shackles on his wrists. Next, to him, a sheep bleated. Chloe was curled up around it, held down tightly by something. She was going to be vicious when she awoke.

“Jenna. Brooke,” he looked at them. They were the only other two awake. 

He didn’t get to say much before the cave was shaking. Chloe stirred next to him and the sheep bleated. A large hand came through first, followed by the rest of the cyclopes. He picked up the sheep that Chloe had been curled against and she shrank back. It was eight of them against three cyclopes. 

Jeremy held his breath. 

“Are the demigods awake?” A rough, female voice called out from behind the male cyclops who peered down at them.

“Yes ma,” the male cyclopes was over 12 feet tall at least. He was followed by a shorter cyclops, and Jeremy assumed that was his mother, who was followed by yet another cyclopes. The one who had caught them. 

“Grab half of them for dinner,” the mother instructed her sons. Brooke’s light flickered and Jeremy sent a glance towards Michael. He was still passed out, still breathing shallowly. 

His other friends were either completely out or they were shacked. Chloe tried to fight against her shackles but she couldn’t break through them. “I like that one. She has a fight, grab her,” the mother cyclopes instructed the taller son. She smacked him once on the back of the head before instructing her other son to grab Rich as well, since she particularly wanted them, before saying she didn’t care who else they grabbed. She left the cave they were in, and they were alone with the two giant sons.

The one that had been smacked by his mother began to reach down for Chloe.

Chloe let out a noise Jeremy had never heard from her before. His blood went cold at the sound of her shriek.

“Hey,” Jeremy spoke before he could stop himself. His voice came out smoother than molasses and sweeter than iced tea on a hot and sunny day. It had been so long since he had done this and not felt gross. “You don’t want to eat her,” Jeremy said.

“I don’t?” The taller cyclops blinked at him, clearly confused.

“No. You don’t. Actually, neither of you want to eat any of us,” Jeremy turned his attention on the second one as well. 

“I don’t want to eat you,” the second one chimed in.

“Exactly! Hey, why don’t you guys let us free instead? We can all go out and find something tasty for you and your mom to eat. Something better than us, doesn’t that sound nice?” He felt like he was talking to a goldfish, not trying to seduce but charm them in a way that appealed to their urge of hunger and to follow whatever light was in front of them.

The two brothers looked at each other and seemed to decide that that was a good idea. They unchained the demigods, Chloe rising to her feet so quickly that Jeremy almost didn’t catch her in time. He didn’t say anything but shook his head at her. Chloe looked at him oddly but seemed to understand that he was telling her to wait, going to Brooke. The daughter of Apollo clung to Chloe, Jenna rushing to wake up Rich and Jake. Christine supported Michael and Jeremy moved to help her, grabbing Michael’s other side and holding it against himself. Between the two of them, they balanced him.

He was still warm. Jeremy felt safer now that he could feel Michael breathing against him. It almost distracted him to what was important.

“Can one of you open the door for us, please?” Jeremy added on the please to be extra sweet. The two cyclopes moved quickly, fighting for a moment as they both tried to open the door. “Thank you.” Jeremy said, “Now,” he started again, feeling something burning inside of him. He felt fuzzy all over, the sensation reminding him of when he had been claimed, “Go attack your mother for us. And when you’re done, rip each other to shreds.” Jeremy told the cyclopes, staring at them intensely.

The cyclops paused. Jeremy could feel their push back but he stepped forward, bringing Michael and by default, Christine with him. He tightened his own grip on Michael, knowing that one of them had been the one to just toss him like a ragdoll. Knowing that all three cyclopes had participated in hurting him, hurting all of his friends. 

“You heard me,” Jeremy’s voice had gone cold and he worked every ounce of charm into it. “Kill your mother, and then kill each other.” He instructed them again. There was no pushback this time and the cyclopes went dumbly out to where their mother was.

Jeremy didn’t look back as they left the cave, the pink glow around him almost as intense as the light Brooke was providing. 

**Author's Note:**

> heres a list of the godly parentage:  
> Jeremy -- Aphrodite  
> Christine & Michael -- Dionysus (Dionysus was the god of theatre after all)  
> Jenna -- Hermes  
> Chloe -- Nemesis  
> Brooke -- Roman Apollo  
> Jake -- Jupiter (we all know it)  
> Rich -- Vulcan


End file.
